Mahathir bars predecessor from emigrating
KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s new leader Mahathir Mohamad said he barred his predecessor and his wife from leaving the country to prevent them from fleeing from possible prosecution over a massive corruption scandal.
A leaked flight manifesto showed that Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor were planning to leave on a private jet on Saturday to Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, fueling rumors that he was bolting the country days after a shocking electoral defeat that ended his coalition’s 60-year grip on power.
“There are a lot of complaints against him, all of which have to be investigated,” Mahathir told a news conference.
“We have to act quickly because we don’t want to be saddled with extradition from other countries.”
Mahathir said the investigations would take some time because investigators need to contact authorities in other countries and gather evidence. He has said Najib will “face the consequences” if any wrongdoing is found.
Najib said on social media that he was planning to take a short vacation to spend time with his family. The Immigration Department, which initially said there was no travel ban, later issued a statement that the former prime minister and his wife were blacklisted from leaving Malaysia.
Mahathir confirmed that he prevented Najib from departing. He said there was sufficient evidence to investigate Najib over the corruption scandal involving the 1MDB state fund that’s being investigated in the United States and other countries. US investigators say Najib’s associates stole and laundered $4.5 billion from the fund, with some $700 million landing in Najib’s bank account and around $30 million used to buy jewelry for his wife. Najib has denied any wrongdoing.
Najib responded swiftly, saying he respects the Immigration Department’s ruling and will remain in the country with his family. He also said he was committed to “facilitating a smooth transfer of power”.
Later on Saturday, Najib told a news conference that he was stepping down as president of the United Malays National Organization and as chairman of the National Front coalition to take responsibility for Wednesday’s election debacle.
The announcement came after strong calls emerged from the UMNO, the linchpin of the coalition, for Najib to resign.
Malaysian police rejected reports claiming that an apartment unit owned by a relative of Najib was raided in an operation to protect evidence.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Mazlan Lazim told local media that the police have not conducted any raids as claimed by several media organizations.
“We are in the midst of checking the veracity of some of these reports and are gathering information accordingly. The so-called raid at Pavilion Residences tonight (Saturday) is not true,” he was quoted as saying.
It was earlier reported that police and plainclothes lawenforcement officers raided an apartment in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday to search for sensitive documents that the newly elected government fears may be taken out of the country.